Should universities test drugs?
THE director of New Zealand’s only festival drug-checking service is calling on universities to help keep their students safe by providing drug-testing services.
Wendy Allison, of drugtesting service KnowYourStuffNZ, said it was time universities used their own spectrometers to give students better access to testing services.
Five student associations said they welcomed the prospect of drug testing at upcoming orientation weeks but only one – the Otago University Students’ Association – was able to do so.
This was down to a lack of resources, according to students’ associations at Canterbury, Massey, Lincoln, and Wellington.
The Bruker Alpha II spectrometer run by KnowYourStuffNZ can identify the content of illicit drugs, so users know what they are consuming.
A University of Canterbury spokeswoman said its science and engineering departments had ‘‘various versions of Bruker spectrometers’’.
They were not suitable for orientation week testing because they were fitted for specialised research.
A University of Otago spokeswoman said it had spectrometers but declined to comment further.
A Victoria University spokeswoman said the university prioritised spectrometer use for teaching and research.
In late December, KnowYourStuffNZ
detected dangerouslyhigh doses of the party drug MDMA circulating in New Zealand.
The service currently has only three spectrometers, which means KnowYourStuffNZ can test only three sites at a time.
The machines cost $50,000 each, said Allison, who hoped universities would consider using their own equipment.
‘‘The question to put to the universities is ‘how much do you care about the lives of your students?’ Universities are ideally positioned to provide this service for their own students.’’
Taking drugs was ‘‘relatively normalised’’ for ‘‘a certain cohort of students’’, said University of Canterbury Students’ Association president Tori McNoe.
‘‘You want it to be available for any student who might need it at anytime but we totally understand that [its absence is] because there is a lack of resources.’’
Massey University Students’ Association (MUSA) engaged with KnowYourStuffNZ about implementing testing this year, president Stefan Biberstein said.
‘‘However, this service was not able to be delivered due to increased demand versus limited resource available. MUSA encourages central government to increase the resources available to these organisations so they may deliver this vital service.’’
Lincoln University Students’ Association (LUSA) general manager Fiona Kay said it ‘‘would have definitely entered into discussions’’ with KnowYourStuffNZ if there were more resources.
A Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association spokeswoman said the lack of resources was one of the biggest barriers to introducing testing.